Following on from David’s problem with the engine cover catching the roof on opening, mine has started doing this. I’ve noticed the right side of the lid is not sitting flush at the top.Other problem areas I’ve found are:1. The driver side front wheel arch liner has fallen down, rubbing on the tyre when left cornering. Dealer has previously attempted to fix this, but it resurfaced again yesterday at Croft.2. The headlamp covers are coming loose at the top. One is so bad, the sticky pad is clearly visible underneath.3. The leather covered sill protecters are coming away near the coin holders where the dash meets the chassis. There’s currently at least a millimetre gap. Looks like the glue has failed (possibly due to heat soak after 12 hours of driving on the way through France/Spain recently).Hopefully the dealer can sort these out when I get a decent exhaust banged on in the next couple of weeks. Yup, I’ve decided to get shut of the standard ‘farter’.Anyone found anything else we need to keep an eye on?
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hitch:1. The driver side front wheel arch liner has fallen down, rubbing on the tyre when left cornering. Dealer has previously attempted to fix this, but it resurfaced again yesterday at Croft.Yes… I noticed mine was very loose when fitting my side repeater lenses… 2. The headlamp covers are coming loose at the top. One is so bad, the sticky pad is clearly visible underneath.[Touch wood] It’s not happened to me yet, but the owner of the show car at Newark on Sunday didn’t appear to happy when I pointed out that his offside front light cover was coming away.3. The leather covered sill protecters are coming away near the coin holders where the dash meets the chassis. There’s currently at least a millimetre gap. Looks like the glue has failedYes, mines giving that sticking sound every time I press it… Anything else we need to keep an eye on?1. Passenger door lock a bit unwilling sometimes.2. Indicator not cancelling after turning a corner.I hate to knock Lotus, as it’s very easy to moan and moan… It’s funny, the Subaru groups are the same… it’s filled with people who share a love for their cars but spend most of their time criticising it !I feel if we’d bought a Boxster that we wouldn’t be experiencing these “cheap” problems you’d normally associate with a say a Proton… hmm…
travelling north out of the wilds of Wales this afternoon and noticed water pooling inside the winscreen lower edge just in front of the surround on the drivers side A pillar…but then the rain was absolutely torrential at the time…
Having owned an Elise beforehand, I forgot to mention the obligatory leaks.Main one (so far) is the tendency for pools to develop in the boot. Maybe Lotus call this supplemental water cooling. I haven’t seen any steam yet, even though the Exige has been tagged the “mobile sauna”. As long as the female passengers dress appropriately you won’t hear too much complaint from me 
Following a jet-wash from my dealer on Thursday, the bonnet was water-logged, causing much steam during rush-hour traffic…Envious on-lookers reassured themselves by thinking my car was overheating.
This is a bit of an epic, so I’ll apologise nw for it’s length. I�m going to tell you my little �moaning about the car maker I love� story. Not sure which part of the story to tell you first. I�ll do it chronological order as it makes sense.I bought my first Lotus, Elise, in April last year (1999), a nice titanium 111s with all the trimmings. At first things were fine, in fact I never have understood why people knocked the 111s as I along with all my fellow owner friends loved my car better than theirs. Then everything started to go wrong: The doors constantly dropping, water leaking, etc. Then thing started to get really bad and over the next few months I had the following problems:1. Doors dropping2. Leaking from everywhere3. Couldn�t open Bonnet.4. Couldn�t open boot.5. Boot leaking.6. Windows not shutting properly.7. Seal round rear window sticking to rollbar8. Driver seat coming lose.9. Passenger seatbelt broke10. Ordered a detachable steering wheel when I ordered the car. Took 3 months AFTER I got the car to deliver and then it wouldn�t come off. Had to order another one which they kept receiving, phoning me up and going to collect it to find they�d fitted it on someone else�s car!!!11. Paint was rubbing due to door not hanging properly12. Throttle body kept on jamming at 3000 revs. I almost hit someone up the backside, when they pulled out at the very last second. I went for the brake, but nothing happened at first, until I�d sussed it was going mad again.13. Lost fifth gear, took it to the dealer who couldn�t find anything wrong. Then lost fifth, third and first gear consecutively, with forth gear jamming.Admittedly, most of the anxiety was caused by our dealer, London Lotus, who only fixed everything, when I finally threatened to return the car. I asked for all my money back under the trades descriptions act which specifies that the product must actually do what it�s meant to do (i.e. be a car)When it finally came back after about 3 attempts, it was worked perfectly from then on.Now the Exige story (well done if you�re still with me).I went to pick it up on the 4th of November (2000) and planned to drive to Studley, near Birmingham, for midday to see my daughter and surprise my family with my new toy and do the firework thing. This meant I had to get to the dealers for 9am for the service staff to change over my steering wheel so I could get there in time. I expected this to take 30 minutes, plus the handover stage, giving me sufficient time to get to Studley, plus giving me chance to get petrol, as it was mini-panic time. After waking like an excited child at 5am, I dragged Annette, my girlfriend out of bed and got to the dealer for 9. I sat round �til about 9:45 and then they told me they had to take the car over to the service garage (6 miles away) to change the wheel. About 1.5 hours and a few calls to tell everyone I was going to be late, the new Exige arrived (Joys!!!) with the QR wheel fitted and full of petrol, so no fuel problems there! Annette then asked where my coat was. Surprise!!! In the back of the Elise with my wallet in it (Arghhhh!!!). The sales guy phoned the service department, but no response as they had come in specially to do my wheel and were gone. He spent some time finding someone with keys and then trying to find someone that new the security code.Finally someone was found and we followed him down to the service centre, picked up my coat and set off for Birmingham. About 5 miles down the road, the car start revving at 4000 and there�s nothing I can do about it. I stop, completely depressed by this time and Annette phones the dealer. I end up speaking to them, explaining what the problem is. They suggest I bring the car back so their Subaru service team can look at it.After about 30 minutes, they think they�ve found the problem, but can�t guarantee it and recommend taking the car away and seeing how it goes and if there are any more problems they lend us a car until ours is sorted. So off we pootle, trying to keep the revs low, when we get about a mile from the last place it started going wrong and it�s shooting up to 3500 revs!!! To say my mood was not the best would be an understatement. If I could have found something cheap to break, I would have.We turn round and go back to the dealers. The service manager takes the keys off us and says something along the lines of �I�ll go and get your Vauxhall Corsa then� !!! Keeping cool and cuddling my, now in tears, girlfriend, I said �You�re kidding, right???�, at which point the Sales manager comes over, apologises for all the hassle and gives us the keys to his already run in Exige. Yes, I thought, it�s finally going right!!!We start the car up and find there�s no petrol. I tell him that�s no problem as there’s a station only a mile down the road in the direction we’re going.I drive off towards the petrol station, which is less than a mile, pull in to the station just as they put the �no unleaded� sign out. I sigh and decide to go to the only other station I know in the area, which is a mile the other side of the dealers (N.B. The dealers is in the middle of the countryside and there�s been lots of flooding round there). This is when I start to know nothing’s going to go right. Within the two minutes that we have driven to the station and turned round to go back to the other station, there�s been a fatal accident closing the whole road off and due to the flooding, not knowing the area AND the fact to get back to the dealers on a road I might know is a 20 mile round trip with no petrol, we’re right up that stream we all go up occasionally without a paddle or reception on the mobile. Now. Please build up this image. A 32 year old man, screaming every expletive he knows and probably creating some new ones along the way, a big red head and his partner trying to calm him and at the same time asking what�s happened to his sun glasses!!!Sorry, this is a longer story than I thought. We finally get reception on the phone, contact the dealers and they tell us of some petrol stations which are on our side of the accident, but completely the wrong way that we want to go. We start driving along and after two stations find one with petrol, but with a �15 limit. By this time it�s 3pm. I�ve had several phone conversations with my family, fobbing them off by saying the old car�s broken down when I finally have to tell them the truth and explain I�m not coming. I have definitely lost my glasses, the sales managers car doesn�t work properly (I�m being beat off the lights by Ford Sierras). Only one thing for it, beer and curry.I now do have my own car and I have about 7 problems with it (most being minor), but I think that�s enough of a story to make everyone else appreciate how lucky they are with the Lotuses they have.PS the Beer and curry did the trick!!!
Phew, thank god for beer and curry !
Sorry to hear your tale of woe Andy, very frustrating I’m sure.Having said that, it sounds no different from any day in my life… mutter mumble… My mantra has always been "Nothing is EVER easy"Get some piccies of your gorgeous blue car to us ASAP - I think they look great.
Sad as it is. I don’t have access to a digital camera or tools to get it onto a PC. I’m really happy with the colour though; even my friend, an elise owner, who’s not that keen on Exiges likes the colour of mine, so that makes me happy.Are you ready for the nigling problems I’m having with my Exige yet?What’s your daily bad Karma then, Admin5 (dare I ask)?
quote:Originally posted by AndyE: even my friend, an elise owner, who’s not that keen on Exiges likes the colour of mine, so that makes me happy.He has an Elise, but isn’t keen on an Exige ? Must be jealousy [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] quote:Are you ready for the nigling problems I’m having with my Exige yet?We’re sitting comfortably… you may begin… quote:What’s your daily bad Karma then, Admin5 (dare I ask)?Ooh, where do I start… how about a 4 day cruise to Norway this weekend that ended up like a scene from Perfect Storm !
![http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]](http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
Norway…this time of year…by boat…what where you expecting…you weren’t on a whaler where you?..did you take your long suffer g/f…was it an attempt to make sitting in a freezing cold pit garage a positive stroll?You wouldnt catch me there this time of year without a pair of skis!!!